Rubber shoe welting



June 13, 1939. A c, RlLEY 2,161,?02.

RUBBER SHOE WELT ING File d Dec. 15, 1957 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented June 13, 1939- UNITED STATES 2,161,902 RUBBER snor. WELTING Albert Chester Riley, Melrose, Mass, assignor to Cambridge Rubber 00., Cambridge, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application December 13, 1937, Serial No. 179,406'

2 Claims.

This invention relates to shoes and other articles of footwear, hereinafter referred to generically as shoes. It is more especially concerned with rubber shoes and parts thereof.

Shoes of this general type as a rule, find their outlet in a lower price class than leatherfootwear. However, as they have been improved both in their construction and in methods of manufacture, much of the clumsiness and those features which have limited saleability, have been eliminated, and a product has been developed in which those advantages peculiar to this kind of footwear are retained, while still presenting a much better appearance than formerly. The present invention aims to effect further improvements in this direction, and particularly to devise a welt structure suitable for use onextension-edge shoes which will contribute to the attractiveness of these products, and will permit greater variety in design but without adding materially to the expense of manufacture.

The nature of the invention will bereadily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating a step in the preferred method of making aplicants welt;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a welt'strip;

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing themore commonly used form of welt'embodying this invention;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the welt applied to a shoe; and V g Fig. 5 is a transverse, sectional view of the welt strip shown in Fig. 2. 3 Referring first to Figs. 2 and 5, the welting there shown comprises a strip 2 preferably made of some rubber composition, or some material which can be handled in a similar manner to mold its surface to the desired configuration, and which will have the necessary toughness, pliability, and other properties essential to a satisfactory welt. Rubber compounds are preferred when the welt is to be used in a rubber shoe because they combine readily with the other elements of the shoe and their characteristics are essentially like those of the parts of the shoe which cooperate with the welt. As shown in the figures just mentioned, the upper surface of the welt has a series of raised elements 3 molded in it and these elements are shaped and arranged to resemble closely a line of stitches. If desired, the upper surface of the welt also may be corrugated to resemble the wheeling effect or socalled stitch separating which is common in leather welts. By making the main body of the welt strip of compositions embodying suitable coloring materials, the welt may be made to suit the requirements of practically any color scheme for a shoe, either blending or contrasting with the shades of adjacent parts, as may be found desirable. I

Usually in incorporating such a welt in a rubber shoe, the inner margin ofthe strip is bevelled, as shown at 4 in Fig. 3. Also, it is usually desirable to have the raised elements 3 which simulate stitches of a color which contrasts agreeably with that of the main body of the welt. This result may conveniently be accomplished by applying a coating of a suitable color to the parts 3. For example, a rubber paint, or one made of any other material compatible with rubber, may be rolled on to the top surfaces of the parts 3'. In a dark colored welt such a coating material will naturally be white, and the welt thus will have an appearance substantially like that shown in Figs. 3 and 4. By making these parts 3 project above the adjacent areas of the welt, the application of the coloring material is facilitated and, in addition, the line of stitches is made more prominent.

Thus a welt is produced which contributes materially to the attractiveness and design of a rubber shoe, which can readily be bonded securely to the adjacent portions of the outsole and upper and which adds only a trifling degree to the expense of manufacture of the shoe. Such a welt may also be used in other shoes, particularly those of the cemented type.

According to the method of manufacture at present preferred, a rubber composition of the desired character is made and sheeted. It is then run through a machine equipped with a roll which impresses the desired design in the upper surface of the sheet. Later the sheet is out along the dotted lines, or in any other convenient manner, to produce welt strips of the desired width. These may be skived along one edge as shown in Fig. 3, or the skiving opera tion may be performed in connection with out ting the sheet into strips. In making some shoes formed prior to such assembly. Thus the product lends itself to a method of manufacture which can be performed very economically while still producing a thoroughly satisfactory result.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. A shoe welt comprising a strip of welt material provided with integral raised elements extending longitudinally thereof and so shaped and arranged as to simulate a line of stitching,

10 the tops of said raised elements being of a color 

